Desaru

It was going to be Johor this year. A 'Cuti-cuti Malaysia' family vacation.

I've never explored Johor thoroughly before, even though Batu Pahat is my dad's hometown and Muar is mr.hubby's kampung. The idea came after mr.hubby discovered that Leisure Holiday has also listed Lotus Desaru Beach Resort as part of available place for us to stay. So, this was an opportunity for us to have our first long-road-trip family vacation.

29 October 2012  

We started the journey a little bit late because we have to wait for mr.hubby to come back from Putrajaya. He has to report his first day duty at Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Prime Minister's Department today and fortunately that EPU's boss did understand that mr.hubby's five-days leave had been approved before he knew about his promotion.

So, at about 1pm, we started our journey to the south. 

After 2 and a half hours drive, we thought that we needed to stop, just to make sure that the kids wouldn't feel very bored to be inside the car for too long. It was just a 40-minutes stop and we only have a light minum petang due to the fact that my mom-in-law already cooked a yummy nasi beriani ayam for tonight's dinner.

After an hour and a half drive, we saw this new bridge at this awkward-two-lane single carriageway (Cahaya Baru-Penawar section). The Sungai Johor Bridge on the Senai-Desaru Expressway is considered to be the longest river bridge in Malaysia.

 At 6.10pm, we already reached Lotus Desaru Beach Resort.

 

Later, we checked in our room and we were impressed with its cozy 3-rooms apartment. It was really nice.

 

And the Cartoon Network channel really put both of them glued in front of the television (..kat rumah tak subscribe channel cartoon kekdah nye..takut nanti takleh ubah citer lain lak).

Then, at 9.30pm, we thought to have a glimpse of Bandar Penawar during night time. In the end, it was just a less-than-10-minutes-browsing activity of this area, nothing much for you to explore.

30 October 2012

Early in the morning, mr.hubby suggested for us to try the breakfast package of this hotel at the Seaview Restaurant before we proceeded to Legoland.

We just managed to enjoy our breakfast for only an hour because we reached there at 10am and the hotel's breakfast buffet ended at 11am.

At 11.15am, we continued our journey to the next attraction.

..continued with Kulai post.. 

31 October 2012

...continued from Kulai post..

After we sent my dad-in-law at Senai International Airport, we managed to reach Lotus Desaru Beach Resort at 7pm. Later, Hayra and Emyr looked really fresh after they took their bath and they were really happy playing around together (kekadang terpikir..mana la budak2 ni dapat energy yg sangat banyak and tak letih langsung). Later that night, we proceeded to have our dinner at Medan Selera in Bandar Penawar.

1 November 2012

...continued from Kota Tinggi post..

After we went back from Kota Tinggi, mr.hubby suggested us to proceed to the resort's water park because he was afraid that the weather would be bad later. Hayra was so excited when she saw the water park. We reached there at 4.45pm but only got to stop the excitement at 5.15pm due to the heavy rain.

That night, we proceeded to Sungai Lebam, Bandar Penawar. Once we arrived, the owner of the Bujang Boat Firefly Services asked us to wear the life jacket. Next, we ride the big boat along Sungai Lebam to watch the kelip-kelip a.k.a fireflies.

It was really dark and I was relieved that Hayra and Emyr weren't panicked with the unusual surrounding. Later, we just took our dinner at the hotel with the delicious Nasi Beriani that we bought from Restoran Baser, Kota Tinggi.

 

2 November 2012

We decided to give it another try at the water park and we didn't regret at all with that decision. Hayra and Emyr really had fun for almost 2 hours and we were glad that we brought them here this morning.

 

After we checked out from the hotel, we made a quick pit stop at the serene Desaru beach. We used the hotel's shuttle bus to go to the beach, as requested by Hayra.

Once we were there, Hayra was so excited and running around here and there like crazy. It was her first beach experience. As for Emyr, he was being so grumpy all the time because he had missed his morning nap. All in all, to me, the Desaru beach was a pure white beauty.

Before we proceeded our journey to Ampang, we made another quick pit stop at the indoor games area.

At 1pm, we started our journey back to Ampang. 

An hour and 30 minutes later, we thought that we needed to stop at Machap RnR and proceeded with our delayed lunch. I was impressed with this RnR - one of a kind with its escalator and air-conditioned food court.

2 hours later (haha..lama giler coz mr.hubby dah penat sangat..so bagi dia tido jap), we continued our journey and reached Bukit Indah at 7pm. Alhamdulillah.

What can I say...I had such a blast spending a quality family vacation with my family.